Ludic language

File:2.2b-Karelian-and-Ludic current.png

Current distribution of Karelian and Ludic

Ludic, Ludian, or Ludic Karelian ( or ), is a Finnic language in the Uralic language family or a Karelian dialect. It is transitional between the Olonets Karelian language and the Veps language. It is spoken by 300 Karelians in the Republic of Karelia in Russia, near the southwestern shore of Lake Onega, including a few children.

Classification

File:Ludic flag.svg

Flag of Ludic Karelian

In the Finnish research tradition, Ludic has been considered a transitional dialect area between Karelian and Veps, while in the Russian research tradition it is, on ethnographic grounds, normally considered a dialect of Karelian. A status as an independent language has been proposed in recent times.Template:Sfn Ludic is characterised by a specific mixture of Karelian-like traits (such as the diphthongisation of the Proto-Finnic non-open long vowels: e.g. *pää > piä 'head', *soo > suo 'swamp', contrast Veps pä, so)Template:Sfn and Veps-like traits (such as an almost complete loss of consonant gradation).Template:Sfn Like Veps, Ludic has also partially lost vowel harmony.

Dialects

Ludic comprises three main dialect groups:Template:Sfn

• Ludic
  • Northern (Lake) Ludic, at the northwestern shores of Lake Onega
  • Central (River) Ludic, at settlements along river Shuya and near the city of Petrozavodsk
  • Kuďäŕv (Forest) Ludic, in the Mikhaylovskoye rural locality

The strongest Karelian resemblance is found in Northern Ludic, while the Kuďäŕv dialect shares the most features with Veps.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front		Back
	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link

• Vowel length may also be distinctive.

Consonants

		Labial		Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
		plain	pal.	plain	pal.
Plosive	voiceless	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Affricate	voiceless			Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced					Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	(Template:IPA link)	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Nasal		Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Approximant				Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Rhotic				Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link

• Sounds only occur in recent borrowings.
• can also be heard as a velar .
• is heard as velar when preceding velar consonants.
• can be lenited as a fricative in intervocalic positions.

Writing system

Ludic is written using the unified Karelian alphabet, but in some publications the letter Ü is used instead of Y, as in Veps.

Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)

A

B

C

Č

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

Š

Z

Ž

T

U

V

Y (Ü)

Ä

Ö

ʼ

Minuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters)

a

b

c

č

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

r

s

š

z

ž

t

u

v

y (ü)

ä

ö

ʼ

Phrases

• = Who are you?
• = What is this?
• = Which one of you is Onni?
• = Why are you laughing?
• = What time is it?
• = When are they coming home?
• = He/She leaves tomorrow.

See also

• Karelian language

External links

• ISO 639 code sets - SIL International
• Lyydiläinen Seura (The Ludian Society)